Teeconomist sent this to me. My middle kid has her eye on it. She will be trying to borrow it soon. It must be cool enough. You can find your own cool t-shirt at the following link. They have tons of nerdy shirts for your enjoyment. Personally, I like the designs by Poofette.
The shirt been washed several times. The design hasn’t faded yet so that’s a definite plus. I’m also very excited that it hasn’t shrunk either. However, my kid is still hoping that it shrinks.
Do you think artists should connect with their fans via social media or leave up the wall between performer and audience?
Personally, I think that it is the artist’s choice. If they are not comfortable with interacting with fans then they should keep it to a minimum.
I love it when I hear from people that I admire on Twitter or Facebook; however, the interactions are genuine. Who wants their favorite celebrity to act fake when they are talking you one on one? No one does. Fake is just icky.
Levi Benton of Miss May I and I.
This guy from Miss May I keeps it pretty real. He was so nice about signing my pink autograph book. He even commented on how many signatures are in it. At last count, I think there are at least 25 but I’ve had it since 1983.
If my memory is correct, I first saw the art of Charles Thurston at the Indianapolis Comic Con. I didn’t have a chance to meet him but I looked him up as soon as we got home. Ever since then, I’ve been following him on Facebook. Recently, he was selling some art in order to replace a phone. Since I was in need of a birthday present for my teenager, I asked to buy one of his watercolors. It’s really lovely.
Then I asked him a bunch of questions. He answered.
The Art of Charles Thurston
Who or what inspires you as an artist?
Growing up, it was Disney Movies and Norman Rockwell. Now, it’s still Disney but not just the movies. Im from Orlando and worked at Disney for years so the parks have always been a special source of inspiration. As well as the Pixar films. Mr. Rockwell is still awesome to me. When it comes to my own stuff, I like to say my style is whatever makes my wife and kids laugh.
What are your favorite comic books now?
I LOVE Fables, Injustice, any of the marvel zombie books, I’ve always enjoyed the “What if” or “Elseworld” books. Anything that takes a story we already “know” and re imagines it is amazing to me.
What did you read as a kid?
Different stuff. Mostly comics, I was BIG into TV and Movies but reading was a lot of different stuff. As I got older, after reading “Misery” I loved King. Also, I like reading series of books like the “Thursday Next” series by Jasper Ffjorde (still have 4 more to read from that) Or the “Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy” series by Douglas Adams. When I became a Dad, it was harder to “read” stuff so audio books have been my main source of literature for the past 5 years. Favorite Audio book: “World War Z” read by a full cast. Its sooooo good.(Close 2nd: “Peter and Max” by Bill Willingham, read by Will Wheaton) Favorite actual book: “To Kill a Mockingbird” (close 2nd is “Fight Club.” I know its an odd combo but I love those books.)
What are your long-term goals?
(anyone else just quote Say anything in their head like me?) To continue to create family friendly art. They say if you have a job you love you’ll never work a day in your life and its true.
Have you had any interesting experiences with fans?
I’m fortunate enough that the people who know who I am have all been totally awesome to meet and been super cool.
YES!! #The Struggle IsREAL I was without a phone for almost a week and its crazy how dependent we are on our phones.
What is your favorite phone app?
Probably a tie between Netflix and Hulu.
How long have you been attending comic book conventions? Either as a fan or as an artist.
I went to my first convention in high school with friends and met Neil Gaiman. I actually had no idea who he was because at the time I hadn’t read the mastery that is “Sandman.” I actually got him to sign a copy of “Death:The High Cost of Living” for me because my friends made me stand in line with them. It wasn’t until 2011 that I went to another Con and that was Megacon here in Orlando as a guest and I was hooked. I had never heard of artist alley and thought it was for me. So the next year I got a table and have had a table every year since. I started touring out of state cons last year with two local artist friends of mine. It has been wonderful and a great way to meet a lot of great people.
I am so sore right now. It’s all I can do to type. Warped Tour wore me out. It was totally worth every aching muscle.
Only complaint: the price for food was a sin. I paid $9 for a $2 hot dog. I felt cheated and robbed. However, I was starving so I chose to be cheated and robbed. Disgusting prices.
Here are some pictures of Lucas and I at Warped Tour. There are more but I need a nap and Tylenol. So I will be working on more photos later. I also forgot that Facebook owns whatever I post so I will be deleting photos.
P.S. I did not tell any of the bands that I’ve interviewed that it was me, except Koji. I was just a fangirl all day and it was awesome!
We found Waldo right away. 🙂I found Koji! 🙂 He is awesome! One person can make a difference.Lucas is living the dream. He is also sad that we missed Beartooth.Melting while waiting in lineSay We Can Fly and I. Braden Barrie. My kid loves him.Alvarez Kings. I’m in the middle with the knee-highs.Alvarez Kings had the best sign. 🙂Attilla. After the mosh circle.Waiting in line again.Ashley Costello of New Years Day and IVans Warped TourLevi Benton of Miss May I and I.Being As An Ocean. This might be the happiest I’ve ever been.
For anyone going to Warped Tour, check out Warped 101 on their site. Very useful information on what to bring and what to leave home.
Also, I was just telling someone that the bands have times listed for signing autographs. Most bands are pretty cool about signing autographs and taking pictures.
Last tip: get there when the doors open. Bands start right away. Grab a schedule. It really did help us plan our day.
Eric from I prevail. And me. He just thinks I’m some crazy fan. 🙂 There was no time to say, “Hi. You know me but not really.”I forgot to buy batteries. So all pictures were taken on the camera. Oh well.
When I bought tickets for the I Prevail show in March, I had no intention of turning into a babbling thirteen year-old girl. However, that is exactly what happened.
I was standing around after the show looking for my boyfriend. I lost him, while I was running down the hall to talk to someone.
Anyway, I was just standing there. Guess who was standing three feet away from me?! Eric, one of the singers from I Prevail, was right behind me. At this point, I was no longer a 40 year old mom. I was a lunatic fangirl. He took pity upon me and took a picture with me. He is my favorite because he’s the most metal, as well as a nice guy.
The band has also signed with Fearless Records since the show. Good for them!
Yeah, people would have to come over first. If people do come over, I hide stuff in the junk pile. No one thinks to look there. They just think I’m getting rid of stuff.
Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?
I’m grateful for figuring out where to get my camera fixed.
Indianapolis Comic Con, weather and budget permitting. Jason Momoa. Yeah, maybe I’m a little obsessed. I can stop whenever I want. Muahahaha. Yeah, I probably won’t stop obsessing though.
The rumor is that Jason Momoa wants to start a brewery in Detroit. Can it be true? Could my sun and stars really be so close? Detroit isn’t that far – only an hour and a half. Maybe two hours.
I could commute.
I could learn about beer and breweries.
I can keep dreaming.
Aquaman will be out soon enough. Plus, Momoa will be at the Indianapolis Comic Book Convention in March. My chances of meeting him are pretty good, especially if I do a photo op.
Okay, he’s not my real sun and stars. However, my actual and factual sun and stars could be talked into going on a brewery tour and a comic book convention, which is one of the reasons that he is my sun and stars.
I always wondered what would happen if one of my friends spoiled an episode of “The Walking Dead.” I thought, “None of my friends are that insensitive and rude.”
Then I thought, “If they have spoilers in their Facebook status, I will probably just unfollow them until the season is over.” They’ll understand, right?
But noooo. I was totally wrong.
Not only did my friend have spoilers, he was extremely unapologetic about it. Apparently, he doesn’t realize that not everyone can watch the episode at the appointed time. Some of us work second shift and have to wait until a later time.
So I unfriended him. I might not ever friend him again – on Facebook or in real life.
I don’t usually curse at people. It’s not my thing. Hopefully, since the cursing was in Old English that it’s not quite as offensive. Nevermind. I meant it in Old English and current English.
People take their television shows seriously. I’m one of those people.
The moral of this story is to not spoil shows for your friends. You might not have many friends left by the end of the season.
Quickly list five things you’d like to change in your life. Now, write a post about a day in your life once all five have been crossed off your to-do list.
1. Re-do some things in my house. For example, a dishwasher is at the top of the list. Also, we need to repaint at least two more rooms. If I could reorganize another area for scrapbooking, my boyfriend would be extremely happy. I have a ton of ideas for the home pinned on my Pinterest board. It’s about time I used some of those ideas.
2. I would like to get more involved with comic book conventions and blogging about comic books. Doing some cosplay is right up my alley. I saw some pictures of a woman dressed up like Lumpy Space Princess. Oh My Glob! I think I might actually be Lumpy Space Princess.
3. Eventually, I want to work from home.
4. Do more fun stuff with the kids. Over the summer, we did a paint fight. We all had a blast. So I’ll be thinking of ideas for more fun things.
5. Fill up my pink autograph book and my wall with photos of fan-girl stuff.
So a typical day would include a DIY project and keeping the kids on track with school. While they go to school, I can work on blog posts, scrapbook and do whatever my real at-home job requires. A virtual assistant job would be ideal.
There would be some fun arts and crafts time with the kids after homework is done. Once a week, we could work on our Cosplay costumes. I think that one of my girls wants to be Thor. We’ll be working on how to make Thor a little more feminine.
Can I get a press pass for a Comic Book Convention based on being a blogger? Do I have to be a super spectacular blogger with a million followers?
If the answer to both of these questions is yes, I have a new goal in life.
I happened to be reading this post by Nerdophiles: http://nerdophiles.com/2014/05/08/the-casebook-of-221b-con-2014/
It had never occurred to me before to obtain a press pass. I’m going to use the heck out of this blogger press pass idea. My biggest bucket list dreams could really come true! And I can blog about it.
Even if I only use it to go to Wizard World and meet Manu Bennett and Norman Reedus, it will all be worth it. I’m going to do a a few photo opportunities with my sparkly new press pass. Then I will get in line for the real photo op and try not to sound like a schoolgirl. One can always hope. However, the odds are not in my favor. What would Lois Lane do? She was professional on the outside and a fangirl on the inside. So that is the plan – to be a professional fangirl, while being a professional fangirl. 🙂
P.S. I’m pretty sure I will do all of this without discounts or VIP access. It would be cool to have all of that but not necessarily necessary.
